When I was in kindergarten, I was obsessed with “The Legend of Zelda.” My love for gaming stopped there, until I was recently reintroduced to the fantastic world of being a Lady Gamer.
The perceptions of gaming can often be misleading, given that it is advertised as a predominantly white male pursuit. This target audience perpetuates the false idea that the gaming community is male-dominated, which is not the case. In reality, women make up a bit over half of the gamer population.
That is why I became so interested in leaping back into this virtual world. Video games are a realm of liberation. They are the gender-neutral, level playing field we all need, and thankfully for us ladies, the gaming world is starting to see it that way, too.
While certain genres of video games still seek to objectify women, like “Dead or Alive” and “Mortal Combat,” this trend appears to be diminishing. Games that seek to degrade the populous of female gamers adhere to the masculine stereotypes of gaming. Luckily, as in many other forms of media, gaming is quickly transforming into a cohort of women empowerment.
Video games like “Horizon Zero Dawn” and “The Last of Us” exemplify women empowerment through the use of strong female leads. These strong roles allow women to escape the realities of the “real world,” where feeling liberated can be difficult to retain. By participating in an emancipating virtual world, Lady Gamers are granted a sense of empowerment they may lack in our non-virtual realities.
As enticing as this liberating world of gaming may appear, there are still troubles Lady Gamers face when playing online. Turns out, human interaction interferes with liberation.
Long-time Lady Gamer and friend, Lisa Becker, can attest to this, as she felt obligated to conceal her female identity when playing online in the past. Becker discovered, whenever it was revealed that she was a woman, men viewed her as a representation of all female gamers. This type of pressure is not uncommon and stems from the masculine norms that have been applied to the realm of gaming. Beyond these inhibitory restrictions, Lady Gamers have also faced sexual harassment when playing online.
However, due to the large proportion of Lady Gamers, a female movement was sparked in opposition to these unacceptable oppressions. Becker attests to how this female movement has helped her immensely as a Lady Gamer and continues to help others as well.
Despite these gendered-breakdowns, the world of gaming is really intended to be a fun pastime that offers enjoyable challenges. It is a realm that applies to a range of individual interests through the magnitude of gaming options available.
There are games that are interactive and story-based like “The Wolf Among Us,” and games with fantasy lore, like “Skyrim.” If you really enjoy Dystopian narratives, “Bioshock” or “Fallout 4” might be for you. If you like bubbly characters, test out “Pokemon,” and if Disney is your thing, you can’t go wrong with “Kingdom Hearts.”
For those who are just starting out, like myself, Becker suggests games like “Halo 1,” which helped introduce her to the basics. Once you leap into becoming a Lady Gamer, the rest is up to your personal preferences. Have fun with it, and enjoy taking the steps into the liberating world of gaming.